1 Thessalonians 2:17-20
We’re going to read some scripture this morning and four verses from 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 17 through 20. Words are on the screen, and you can follow along as I read Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica. Paul writes, but brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time, in person, not in thought, out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you, for we wanted to come to you, certainly I, Paul, did again and again, but Satan blocked our way.
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. Well, we have been looking at the book of 1st Thessalonians and just progressing through verse by verse, chapter by chapter. And so, this morning, we’re going to be in chapter 2, verses 13 through 20.
If you were here last week, we looked at the first 12 verses and looked at Paul’s characteristics of ministry. And as Paul ministered there in Thessalonica in Acts chapter 16, there were three pictures that he writes about that we can model in our ministry. And he says, I was a faithful steward.
I ministered to you like a caring or nursing mother and like a concerned father. And that was Paul’s word pictures of how he ministered. This morning, we’re going to talk about growth.
We’re all interested in growth. When that newborn baby is born and you begin to take them to those regular doctor appointments, the doctor’s office will take a measurement and a weight and you’ll find out what percentile your child is in. And that’s very concerned that they continue to grow.
We’re interested in this, especially rural area, agricultural growth. Spend a lot of time, the farmers do, putting in seed and planting and, yep, the corn looks like it’s doing well. And we want those fields and things to grow, don’t we? We track economic growth, don’t we? If you have investments, perhaps you look at them, perhaps you follow the stock market.
You want those to grow. But this morning, we’re going to talk about an area of concern and it’s spiritual growth. And as the Apostle Paul writes to the Thessalonians, he’s going to give us some resources for us to grow spiritually.
2nd Peter 3:18 says, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That’s Peter’s parting words. Not a suggestion, it’s a command, he says, I want you to grow.
And earlier, Peter writes to these believers in 2nd Peter who were persecuted and scattered throughout the Roman Empire that God’s divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life. As Peter says, God’s already given us the resources that we need for a godly life. And so, this morning, we’re going to look at six of them from 1st Thessalonians chapter 2, and they all start with the letter S to help us remember.
i. Scripture
And so, what are the resources that God has given us for growth? So, let’s look at the first one, and the first one, to no surprise, is the Scriptures. The Scriptures. Earlier, Peter wrote, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may what? Grow by it.
And now Paul’s writing to the Thessalonian believers and he is encouraging them regarding how they received God’s word when he preached the word. So, let’s look at it in verse, beginning in verse 13, we also thank God continually because when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, Paul spent three Sabbaths there in Thessalonica reasoning with the Scriptures and preaching. You accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
Paul says, when I was there in Thessalonica, when I preached from the Old Testament Scriptures, you received what I said, not as coming necessarily from Paul, although he was the human instrument. This was the word of God. And that’s the challenge to anybody that stands behind this pulpit or any pulpit on Sunday morning.
We’re not really interested in what Pastor Ron has to say. What we want to understand and hear is, what does God have to say? That’s why over 400 times in the Old Testament, we read the phrase, thus saith the Lord. That was the ministry of the Old Testament prophets to proclaim to the nation of Israel and the surrounding nations, the message of the Lord.
And so, the Scriptures that we’re looking at, the book that you hold in your hands is the infallible, inerrant word of God. It is absolute truth, and it has the power to change our lives. And Paul mentions that.
He says that you received it as God’s word, which is at work in you who believe. Does the work of salvation, Romans 1:16, I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. The power of sanctification to sanctify our lives.
And so, the first resource that God gives us for spiritual growth is the word of God. Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in all the Old Testament. It’s got, I believe, 176 verses in it.
In almost every verse in Psalm 119, there’s a word that references, that symbolizes the word of God. Sometimes it’s called the law, sometimes it’s called God’s precepts. And Psalm 119 is a tremendous psalm to read to think about the power of God’s word and the Scriptures.
And so let me just read a couple verses from Psalm 119. It’s poetic in Hebrew. We kind of lose that in the English translation.
The psalmist writes; how can a young person stay on the path of purity? Well, there’s a great question for today. How do not only young people, but how do all of us live a life of purity? And he answers that by living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart.
Do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, Lord.
Teach me your decrees. I rejoice in following your statutes. Verse 9-20, my soul is consumed with longing for all your laws at all times.
So, the psalmist is writing, he says, I have a hunger for God’s word. Psalm 42:1, as the deer pants for water, so my soul longs for you. And I hope in your life that you have a desire and a longing to know God and to know God’s word.
Early this morning when I was over here, I’m looking out the doors of the church out in the field there, and there’s a deer that comes out from the wooded line there. And I don’t know, I still enjoy just watching a deer. And that Psalm 42 came to my mind.
The deer pants for water, so my soul longs for you. Well, the first resource is scriptures, and I trust that you’re in God’s word. We have so many resources that can help us with devotionals and Bible readings, and the scriptures will help us grow.
ii. saints
Well, there’s a second resource, and it’s found in the text here, resources for spiritual growth, not only the scriptures, but saints, the saints. Look at verse 14. For you, brothers and sisters, he’s writing to those in Thessalonica, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus.
So, these new believers in Thessalonica were going through some challenges in their life, and they had some other mature believers that could help them. They were the believers in the churches in Judea who also were experiencing some challenges in their lives. And so, what’s another resource that God gives us to help us grow? It’s the body of Christ.
It’s other believers. If you’re trying to live the Christian life in isolation and alone, it’s not going to go very well because God designed us to live in community, to pray for one another, to encourage one another, to bear one another’s burdens, to love one another. And so, God’s given us the saints, the body of Christ, to help us grow.
And the Thessalonian believers, those new believers, looked to some other churches that were maybe a little more mature and further along in their walk to help them grow. And this is what Paul did when he came to minister to different areas and started churches. Paul set his life up as an example.
Follow me as I follow Christ. To the Philippian believers, he says, the things that you have learned and heard and received and seen in me, this is what I want you to do. And so, to find another believer who might be a little further along in their spiritual journey and the journey through life together is a gift from God.
And we grow in community. As Proverbs 27:17 says, iron sharpens iron. And so, God’s given us one another to help us grow.
And so, the author of Hebrews says, don’t forsake the assembly of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, but encourage one another all the more as you see the day approaching, the day of Christ’s return. Then he says, I want you to spur one another on toward what? Love and good deeds. And so, it’s the body of Christ that can help us.
I’ve shared several times that as I look back in my life, I had four men who were instrumental in my Christian Walk. Number one, my dad, who was in ministry for 60 plus years, a great role model for me. A youth worker at our church I grew up in, in Cleveland, Ohio, at Bethlehem Baptist Church.
His name, Tom Ladd. He’s now with the Lord. A soccer coach and a Bible teacher in a Christian school that I went to by the name of David Graham.
And lastly, a mentor when I was at Grand Rapids Seminary, a fellow by the name of Louis Konopka. And those men influenced me. And sometimes it was through words, but oftentimes it was just by modeling a godly life.
iii. suffering
And so, we have the resource of saints. Well, here’s a third resource that is mentioned in the text, and it’s found in the last part of verse 14. Let me read the whole verse again.
For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews. So, the Thessalonian church was going through suffering, just like those Judean churches were experiencing suffering from the Jews.
The Thessalonians were also experiencing suffering and persecution. If we go back to Acts chapter 17, when Paul and Silas made the trip there to minister in Thessalonica, while the gospel made inroads, so did opposition. Let me just remind you, although some people came to Christ that said some other Jews were jealous, so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace and they formed a mob and started a riot in the city.
And Paul and Silas end up making a nighttime escape. And so, these new believers are experiencing what? Some suffering, persecution. That’s the book of 1st Peter, by the way.
The whole theme is pain with a purpose. And Peter writes to these believers who, because of the Roman persecution that had broken out, were scattered all over the Roman Empire, and he’s trying to encourage them in their time of suffering. And so, we read in 1st Peter chapter 4, verses 12 and 13, Don’t be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come to test you, as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ.
And so, these believers were undergoing fiery trials. Some of them ended up being human torches in Nero’s garden, and they gave their life for the cause of Christ. And God often uses suffering in our life for our spiritual good and His glory.
And so, Peter concludes 1st Peter chapter 5, verse 10 with these words, And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong and firm and steadfast. What does suffering do, when we suffer well, it makes us stronger, it makes us steadfast. And I love this verse because it says, after you have suffered a little while.
Oh, Mark Lowry says his favorite verse in the Bible is, and it came to pass. Whatever you’re suffering or going through in your life right now, we can put one word on it from Scripture, and it starts with the letter T, it’s temporary. But whatever suffering we’re experiencing, it’s temporary.
And God often uses those suffering to mold us into Christ likeness. Open Doors Ministry publishes a world watch list every year. Because quite frankly, we live in the United States of America, which in one sense is the Disneyland of Christianity.
We’ve got lots of churches to go to. We’ve got lots of spiritual helps and books and resources and devotionals and Bible studies. One of the most confusing things for some people is to go to a bookstore, if they exist anymore, or go to Amazon, try to buy a Bible.
And all of a sudden, like, there’s like 45 translations. Most of the world doesn’t have that. And many people globally are suffering for their faith as we enjoy the comfort of an air-conditioned auditorium and padded pews.
So, here’s what Open Doors has to say. More than 380 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. One in seven Christians are persecuted worldwide.
Last year, 7,679 churches and Christian properties were attacked. We won’t hear that in the news at all. Last year, 4,476 Christians were martyred for their faith last year.
So, the author of Hebrews writes, continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison. And remember those who were mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. So once a year in November, sponsored by Open Doors, they have a Sunday dedicated to praying for the persecuted church.
iv. separation
God uses suffering to help us grow. Well, there’s a fourth resource that God gives to us in this text, and let’s find it in verse 17. But brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time, in person, not in our thought, out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you.
And so, Paul says, we were orphaned by being separated from you. And we went back briefly to Acts 17 and discovered because of persecution, because of a riot mob that developed that Paul and Silas make a nighttime escape, and they very quickly had to leave these Thessalonian believers. Paul says, we were separated from you.
In body, but not in thought. The King James says, taken away from you. Other translations say, torn away from you.
Sometimes God uses separation to help us grow. All of a sudden, the church at Thessalonica doesn’t have their founding pastor with them. All of a sudden, these men who led them to Christ and were teaching them the scriptures are gone.
And oftentimes in our journey in life, we can find ourselves separated from our support system, our spiritual support system. Maybe we’re transferred to a new city and we’re taken away from what’s familiar and we need to find a new support system. Maybe we go off to college and now the real test is, what do I believe? Do I believe what I believe because my parents believe it? Or is this really my faith? And that’s quite frankly a crisis that many young people go through when they go off to college.
I highly recommend anybody that goes off to a secular college to find a ministry, whether it’s crew or whether it’s navigators, get involved in some sort of Christian support group that can grow your faith. And so, Paul is separated. They make this nighttime escape and now those believers are forced to either sink or swim on their own.
I love what David writes in 1st Samuel 36. He says, David encouraged himself in the Lord. And it’s great and necessary to come to church and sit through Bible studies and have pastors proclaim God’s word to you.
But we also need to learn how to feed ourselves, learn how to get in the scriptures ourselves and grow. Sometimes separation is what puts us on that track of growth. Well, there’s a fifth resource.
Paul mentions it here in verse 18. He says, hey, I wanted to come to you. In fact, I tried again and again, but notice what he says in verse 18, we wanted to come to you, Paul and Silas.
v. recognition of spiritual warfare
Certainly, I did again and again, but who blocked our way? Satan blocked our way. So, fifth resource for spiritual growth is an understanding of spiritual warfare, a recognition of spiritual warfare. And Paul says, hey, I wanted to come back to Thessalonica, and he doesn’t give us any details here, but he says, Satan blocked the way.
So, this is why Paul writes to the Ephesian believers. And he reminds us with these words, be strong in the Lord and His mighty power, put on the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the devil’s schemes. The word there is really the word is methods, the methods of Satan.
And then he reminds us, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities, the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Paul reminded us, hey, there’s a spiritual battle going on out there. There’s a spiritual battle for the heart of America, and there’s a spiritual battle for families, and there’s a spiritual battle for the minds and the hearts of our young people and our grandchildren.
And we need to recognize that there’s an enemy out there. He’s called the great deceiver, and he has different methods that he uses. It’s just the doubt God’s word.
That was how he worked in the book of Genesis with Adam and Eve, call them the five Ds. He uses doubt, he uses discouragement, disappointment in our life, division, despair. Satan has all sorts of methods to divide Christians, discourage us.
And so, the apostle Paul says, put on the whole armor of God. It takes us through that armor. And then he finishes that passage by saying, and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
Here’s the good news in this spiritual battle. The Bible says, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. And how do we defeat Satan and his methods and attacks? Well, Jesus did it by quoting Scripture.
Matthew chapter 4, Satan came to him, tempted him three times. Jesus responded by quoting the book of Deuteronomy three times. We defeat the Satan by Scripture and by prayer, by realizing that God is greater and God has ultimately won the final victory.
vi. living in light of the second coming
Well, there’s a sixth resource for spiritual growth that we can discern from the text here. It’s not only the Scriptures. It’s not only the saints, the body of Christ.
God not only uses suffering, sometimes separation, recognition of spiritual warfare. And by the way, if you get serious about growing in the Christian life and getting involved in ministry, guess what? You’re going to have a target on your back. Just expect it.
Because then you become a threat. But it’s number six resource is this, living in light of the second coming. Living in light of the second coming.
And so, the overall theme of 1st Thessalonians is be ready. Be ready. Be ready for what? Be ready for the second coming.
But Jesus is coming back. And every chapter, all five chapters of 1st Thessalonians concludes with some sort of reference to the second coming of Christ. And that’s how Paul concludes our section here this morning.
He says, for what is our hope, our joy, for the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? So, Paul’s looking ahead to what? The future second coming of Christ. Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. What brought Paul joy in his life? What was he aiming for in his life? His joy was found in other believers and sharing the gospel and being a part of their spiritual journey and their spiritual walk.
And he says, someday when Jesus returns, you’ll be my crown. You’ll be my joy. You’ll be my glory.
Paul looks forward to the second coming. And so, in 1st Corinthians 4, Paul reminds us about having an eternal perspective. And actually, it’s 2nd Corinthians chapter 4. So let me get there.
Here’s what he writes. Therefore, do not lose heart. Here’s an encouraging word for this morning.
So outwardly, we’re wasting away. Our bodies are beginning to break down. Yet inwardly, we are being renewed day by day.
Here it is again. Our light and momentary troubles, they’re temporary, are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, here’s the application.
So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. Because what is seen is temporary, and what is unseen is eternal. Paul reminds us to have what? An eternal focus.
Paul reminds us to focus on those things that will last forever. And in my short list of what lasts forever, there’s three things that are eternal. God is eternal.
The word of God is eternal. That’s Isaiah 40. The souls of people are eternal.
And so, Paul encourages us to live in light of the second coming. To look at life through the lens of an eternal perspective. Look at the world through the eyes of Jesus.
How did Jesus see people? Well, in Matthew chapter 9, he saw the crowds. He says he was moved with compassion on them. They were helpless and harassed.
application questions
And then he said, pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest field to reach people for Christ. And so, resources for spiritual growth. Just a couple of application questions as we close this morning.
1. Where am I in my spiritual growth chart?
Where am I in my spiritual growth chart? Quite frankly, oftentimes spiritual growth charts aren’t kind of like this ascending with upward all the time. It’s more like maybe the stock market, up and down, up and down. Sometimes the Christian Walk is three steps forward, two steps backward. But we need to keep pressing on.
2. am I growing in my Christian Walk with God?
And so, am I growing in my Christian Walk with God? Am I regularly reading and studying God’s Word? Is it part of my daily routine? Am I regularly in fellowship with other believers to encourage them, to journey through life with them, to pray for them, to bless them, to bear their burdens?
3. do I recognize suffering?
Thirdly, do I recognize suffering, that suffering is often part of the Christian life? In fact, 1st Timothy 3:12, all who desire to live a godly life will suffer persecution. We don’t quite have it yet in this country, but it could very well be coming.
Sometimes God uses persecution and sometimes God uses suffering. In fact, this is what Paul’s prayer was in Philippians 3:10, I want to experience the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. And when those apostles who were put in prison and were beaten rather, not put in prison, the Sanhedrin released them and said they rejoiced after they were beaten and flogged that they were able to suffer for Christ.
4. am I living for the dot or am I living for the line?
And so, do I realize that sometimes suffering is part of the Christian life? And then lastly, as Randy Alcorn puts it in his book, The Treasure Principle, am I living for the dot? The dot being the 70, 80, 90 years perhaps that God gives us on this planet? Or am I living for the line? The line is eternity. That’s an infinite line. And where is my focus? Is it on the seen or the unseen? Well, I trust that as we think about Paul’s encouragement to the Thessalonian believers in their Christian Walk, that you will avail yourself to God’s word, the body of Christ, the resources that God has given us.
Sometimes they’re not easy resources but continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.